17 January 2011

Articles in Time on the Pahlavi dynasty

Every Monday I receive by e-mail the magazine Time's newsletter "Top 10 Weekly Europe Edition", which contains a survey of the 10 most popular stories of the week.

The newsletter I received today contained two articles about the Pahlavi dynasty. The first is titled "Why Royal Family Still Haunts Iranians" and was published on 6 January 2011. The journalist, Azadeh Moaveni, referring to the recent death of the late Shah's youngest son Prince Ali Reza, asks why the former Royal (should be Imperial) Family still fascinates the Iranians.

Well, the activities of the former Imperial Family of Iran certainly are of interest to non-Iranians as well. The Pahlavi pretender to the Iranian throne, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi (titular Shah(ansah) of Iran), who resides in the United States, makes one alternative to the present Iranian dictatorship.

The second article, titled "Iran Reacts to Suicide of the Shah's Son", was published on 5 January 2011, and is also written by Azadeh Moaveni. The journalists writes that the Iranian leadership has tried to eliminate the former Imperial family from public discussion, but has not succeeded.

Following the death of Prince Ali Reza, it is a bit unclear who the current pretender's heir or if there is an heir after all. If the succession law is agnatic, the heir would be Reza Pahlavi's cousin Prince Patrick Ali Pahlavi [Prince Ali Islami], b. 1947. I hope to get more details on the Iranian monarchical constitution and succession law soon. For more information on the Pahlavi Dynasty, you are recommended to visit The Royal Ark.

Reza Pahlavi's other siblings are Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi, b. 1940, and Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi, b. 1963. His youngest sister Princess Leila Pahlavi, b. 1970, died in 2001 and is buried at the Cimetière de Passy in Paris, France.

Reza Pahlavi's mother Empress Farah Diba resides in Paris, France, but also owns a house in the United States.

I have always been under the impression that Patrick does not have succession rights. That is why it was imperative for the last Shah to divorce Empress Soraya and remarry after Prince Ali Reza's (Muhammad Reza's brother's) death. Until then there had been the possibility that Ali Reza would make another, approved, marriage and provide an heir. Under the succession laws in place at the time of the Revolution, therefore, there are now no surviving heirs to the current pretender.

Thanks to both for your input. I always thought that the Empress lived in the United States, but could be wrong. I guess the burial place of Princess Leila gives more sense, then.

Concerning the succession to the Iranian throne (Pahlavi), I hope to get hold of the text of the succession law to check out the question. I should made my comment about Prince Patrick with reservation, obviously.

Thanks again to "Copadan", Gary and Trond for your corrections and comments. The article has now been updated.

For the record, the last three paragraphs read before the corrections were made:

"Following the death of Prince Ali Reza, the current pretender's heir is now his cousin Prince Patrick Ali Pahlavi [Prince Ali Islami], b. 1947. For more information on the Pahlavi Dynasty, you are recommended to visit The Royal Ark.

Reza Pahlavi's other siblings are Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi, b. 1940, and Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi, b. 1963. His youngest sister Princess Leila Pahlavi, b. 1970, died in 2001 and is buried at the Cimetière de Passy in Paris, France.

Reza Pahlavi's mother Empress Farah Diba also resides in the United States."

Obviously I should have done better research before posting the article.

This blog is written by Dag T. Hoelseth, a Norwegian historian specialising in royal history.
I have a Cand.philol. degree in history from the University of Oslo and graduated in 1997 with the dissertation Det nasjonale kongedømme. Det norske monarkiet 1905-1910, which dealt with the royal election in Norway 1905 and how the new dynasty "became Norwegian".
I am the author of Historisk utredning om Kongehuset, dets apanasjer og disponible statseiendommer, which was published on behalf of the Palace Committee in 2001. The report focused among others on the history of the Norwegian civil list from 1905 to the 1970s as well as the properties the king of Norway has to his disposal.
I have made contributions to several antologies and also written articles for various publications. More often I have operated "behind the scene", consulting newspapers etc. with background information.
Among my other interests are genealogy, Norwegian-American emigration history, US presidential history, traveling, football and ice hockey.